The Concubine's Petals and the wolf's responsibility
by ElisaFob
Summary: Everything has been at peace for the last 2 years, but with age people die and the younger generation take over. How will this affect normality in Konoha, and the rest of the world? Will there be a future for the one's who saved everyone? And what kind of future? - Gore, Horror, Lemon - SakuKiba
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

One would probably wonder why the esteemed Hokage Tsunade one evening where leaping through the woods with a team of ANBU nin's by her side one night. The reason for her adventure were the young red haired Kazekage who'd asked for a secret meeting with her. Even though she knew that Gaara always had good reasons for his actions, she couldn't help but worry about his intentions.  
The war which ended 2 years ago had taken its toll on everybody involved, but everybody had also grown accordingly. Tsunade couldn't stop thinking that the war was the reason for this secret meeting. Now it was fall season and the leaves were colored red, orange and yellow. A fitting color palette for the country.

"Yamato."

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" Yamato answers through his mask as they all come to a halt on a gigantic three branch. "You remember the plan?" Tsunade turns around and faces the recognizable mask of Yamato. He nods "I do." The plan was for Yamato to build a hut as soon as the two Kages appear at the scene and then hide it with a seal. "We should be there soon." The blonde said before she continued towards the destination.

Before long a hut was made and the ANBU team went into hiding while Yamato stood ready to put the hiding seal on the hut as soon as Kazekage Gaara arrived. Tsunade sat down inside the hut's main room. The amusement over Yamato's creation skills showed in the smirk she made when she could sit down by a table with two chairs.

It didn't take long before Tsunade could sense Gaara's chakra right outside the hut. The chakra signatures of his guard soon joined the ANBU and Gaara entered the hut. As he came into view, Tsunade didn't see his face thanks to a long black cloak that he was wearing.

"Greetings, Kazekage." Tsunade said as she rose from her seat.

"Greetings, Hokage." Gaara said and gestured for her to sit again. "Since I believe what I want to inform you about is very important, I will drop all formalities. I believe we have a new war on our hands." As he finished the sentence he pulled of his hood.

Tsunade noticed that his eyes were tired and filled with worry. "A new war? Why do you believe that?"

"Have you met the new Tsuchikage?" Gaara asked. His voice was deep and his speech slow.

"No. I have heard I am to expect his visit in six months, but that's all." Tsunade shrugged.

"He's travelling around to meet his colleagues. Before he met with me, I got a report from a source of mine. Apparently the Tsuchikage position was filled faster than before, and if you knew what kind of relations he has to the Damiyo of the Earth country, I think you as myself would believe that the voting was corrupted."

This was shocking to Tsunade. "What kind of relations?"

"He is the Damiyo's grandson. And a spoiled one at that. When we met he showed to be hot-headed and aggressive and the owner of a level stupidity that I once believed only Uzumaki possessed." Obviously no pun was intended because Gaara's expression was as serious as it could be. "But do you think this would lead to a war?" Tsunade knew that her Kage colleagues all were known to be of the eccentric kind of people and they all took great care of their villages. "There's more. My source in Earth tells me that he has power-issues. His village has basically gone bankrupt because all his resources has gone to the build of his military army."

"What? But the export from Earth hasn't showed to be less than it has always been. Wouldn't it be affected by this?" She had not heard any complaints about the import. "The export is the only thing the villagers make money from. The shinobi gets free food but the villagers who work with neither are practically starving." He explained. Tsunade couldn't believe it. Why didn't the villagers riot? Or do something to oppose their Kage?

Even though it didn't sound like this would affect neither Wind or Fire, both Tsunade and Gaara knew that this could mean big trouble for both. And more. Something needed to be done.

**A/N: Hope you liked it! **


	2. Chapter 1 - Travel

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Naruto universe. I only own this story.**

**PS: I apologize for any grammar mistakes I may have done in this chapter and any future chapters.**

**Chapter 1 - **

Her fist made contact with the ground and the energy she'd gathered flowed into the rocky surface. It took only 5 seconds before the ground started to move. The ground split into two and a large crack was now where her fist was aimed. She'd been keeping this up for two hours.

"This should do it." She sighed proudly.

Several trees and pieces of the mountain around her had been broken down into pieces. Only something was missing.

Sakura leaped on to the top of a large pile of rocks and then landed on the ground on what would be the starting point. When she looked over the arena she had made, she felt a sting of nervousness. Had she overdone it? She walked over to a palm tree where she'd left her backpack by the roots. She picked it up and pulled out a bottle with water. Staying hydrated showed to be harder than she'd originally thought.

"Sakura!"

Temari's voice reached her ears as she swallowed the water. She turned around to see her blonde friend walking with someone she recognized as one of the theater technicians. "Hi, Temari. You are right on time. I just finished crushing the ground." The pinkette said as she tossed her waterbottle to land on top of her backpack. "Aha. You had any fun?"

"Kinda." Sakura smirked.

"Well, anyway. I asked Sahuri here to come along. I think she might be able to help you." Temari's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Okay. Well, I though about adding a few things to actually make it feel like a fighting scene. I have actors but I don't have effects." Her little theatre scheme had gone from small to big in no time and now almost 30 people were involved.

"May I suggest something?" Sahuri seemed to be a little shy. The girl was very petite, with long blonde hair and big glasses. "Sure." Sakura shrugged. "Well, I got a map over the area and if I just update it to its present condition I can show you." Sahuri showed to have a large round container strapped to her back and when she opened it, she pulled out a large map. Using a pen she updated the map to look more like the present scene in front of them. "So what exactly do you want me to help you with?" Sahuri seemed to be in her element. "I don't really know." Sakura slapped herself mentally. She wanted to make it look more real and she didn't know how to do it?

"When I'm out fighting there's always hard to see because of the sand getting in my eyes." Temari thought aloud. "I can make that happen." Sahuri smirked. "Do you have more experiences I can use?" Sakura smiled. She knew exactly what to do.

"Irori! Hurry we're late!"

"I'm coming Tahuki!"

The young shinobi ran through the streets of Suna as fast as they could. They had to reach the city gates in 5 minutes. They'd be sure to miss it if they didn't.

As the gates came closer and closer, they recognized their teacher by her significant pink hair. Irori had been awestruck by the color variety in her teacher's hair from day one. The pink locks varied in a rainbow of light pink to a light magenta. As they arrived and mixed with the rest of the group, Irori noticed her teacher had put her hair up into a high braid which now reached the lowest point of her back.

"Irori Manako and Tahuki Juhi, you're late." Sakura pointed out after she'd finished her greeting of the others. The two girls muttered their excuses before Sakura continued. "Since you're all gathered now, I can tell you what we're going to do today." Sakura tried to hide a smile "You're going to have your exams today."

As her sentenced finished, her students faces showed a mix of nervousness and determination. "W-..what, today? But Sakura-sama, are we prepared?" a brunette Sakura recognized as Maruhi in the back looked as if she was being sent to the gallows. "I think you are. After this I have nothing more to teach you. The rest will be up to you." Sakura pointed out. She reached into the pocket of the long hooded vest she was wearing and pulled out a scroll. For the occasion she'd dressed up in an emerald green sweater and black short shorts. Her regular black boots was a must in the sand – she couldn't stand getting sand between her toes. The vest she had put on was a replacement of her medic skirt from when she was younger. The hood worked as protection from the sun. The vest reached the bottom of her thighs and closed just beneath her chest.

"I will now transport us all to the exam area. I will not give you any info about the amount of damage or danger. You will enter absolutely unprepared for the situation, is that clear?"

Her students looked more determined than ever and nodded their heads. "Make sure you all have your healing kit with you. I will say more when we get there." Sakura bit her thumb as she opened the scroll. It was a transportation scroll made especially for the exam. To transport her whole class, quite a bit of chakra was needed and therefore she was thankful for the chakra that Gaara infused into the scroll beforehand. Thus she could transport her class and also be of help if anything went wrong.

As she finished her seals a long snake-like shadow meandered itself around herself and her students and transported them to the location of their exam.

With a big "poof" the class of medics appeared in the middle of a large forest. "Where are we?" was the repeated question. Sakura closed the scroll and put it in her pocket.

"In a forest on the border of Fire."

The students looked around curiously. Most of them had never been outside of Wind and then to suddenly appear in the middle of a typical Fire forest was an experience in itself. Around them were thousands of tall, thick-branched trees providing more than enough shadow to the ground. "We'll set up camp here for the day." Sakura counted her students and divided them into groups "We'll probably be here til nighttime, and therefore some of you come with me to the exam grounds while the rest of you stay here and prepare."

Her students nodded. "So, I will go with groups of 3." Sakura pointed out her three first ones and they walked up to her. She'd pointed at two girls and one boy. They were probably 14 in age, but their experience exceeded their age. The boy, Arata was tall and slender, dressed in grey clothing from head to toe. The two girls were twins, Ayano and Ayame, with brown short and spiky hair, also dressed in gray. "Any questions?"

"What are we allowed to do here?" one of the girls in the back asked. "Everything that doesn't make the ANBU run after you." Sakura gave them a hard look.

"Alright. You three have everything you think you need?"

The three beside her nodded and then they were off into the forest.

They walked for approximately five minutes before the trees seemed to clear out. Arata looked around curiously as they went, wanting to remember everything about the forest. Suddenly they were out of the woods and they stepped onto a large field – or what seemed to be a large field, all they saw was a large cloud of dust that covered everything in sight.

"What is that?"

Sakura turned to her students to answer Ayano's question "This is your exam. The dust is surrounding the whole area and there has been arranged several kinds of exams for you. Of course, you three will only experience one."

"Why the dust?"

"To avoid any cheating. The surprise would be ruined if you went and told the other about your exam." Her students seemed to swallow everything she said with an insatiable hunger, which in turn made her smile. "I will be keeping track of your progress with the help of Sahuri."

As her name was mentioned, she appeared from the dust cloud with a smile on her face. "Everything is ready for you."

Sakura nodded towards the blonde. "Do you have everything with you?" she asked her students. They nodded as they pointed towards each their own pack with medic supplies tied to their waists. "You will get 5 minutes to prepare mentally for what is to come." Sakura said before she walked closer to the dust which seemed to just float in the air. It was Sahuri's idea and Temari's technique.

"_So, now that we've fixed pretty much everything that both you and I can think about... are we done?" Temari asked nonchalantly as she sat on the ground, her back leaning onto a tree. Sahuri was sitting on the ground together with Sakura not too far away, discussing the map in her hands._

_Sakura looked over towards Temari "I think so, but... there is.. I can't stop thinking that something is missing." she spoke slowly, being deep in thought. "Like what?" Sahuri asked. "We have the arena, and it's perfect. But what if everything goes out of hand?" the worry in her voice was just one of the many signs of her concern for her students. "Maybe we need something to keep everything where it needs to be?" Temari thought aloud. "Like a barrier of some kind?" Sakura asked. Temari jerked upwards as Sakura finished her sentence "Yes!" she pointed enthusiastically at Sakura "What about your Meimei Hei-technique?"._

_The Meimei Hei, or "Invisible wall-technique" was something Sakura had created together with Tsunade a few months after the war. It was created as an additional protection for the Chuunin exams. "That technique requires a stable source of constant chakra." Sakura replied. "Not if you use chakra seals." Temari smiled. Sakura looked confused. "Seals with stored chakra. If you place them around the arena and open them we have our chakra source!" Temari exclaimed while smiling. Sakura thought about it thoroughly "That's not a bad idea" she smiled._

"Now, I will leave you while you use those 5 minutes well. I will be watching you all and grading you thereafter." Sakura used her stern voice before she wished them good luck and left.

Arata swallowed. Were they ready for this?

**A/N: Alright, this is my new fanfiction. I have thought about writing again for quite some time and here is the product of my many thought xD.**


	3. Chapter 2 - Exam

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Naruto universe. I only own this story.**

**Chapter 2 - **

Sakura went into the woods and disappeared from her students sight. Sahuri and Temari had put up a small tent to the west of the arena where they could watch everything that happened in the arena through tv-screens. As Sakura entered the room hidden underneath grey clothing, she saw Sahuri busy with the start up of everything. The poor girl had a lot to keep control over, over 30 actors, special effects and the safety of the students at the same time. She had a microphone hugging her ear as she spoke with the actors, giving the orders. This would be Sakura's job as soon as Sahuri clarified that everything was safe. Sakura stood there, admiring the girl until a certain blonde scared the heck out of her "So Sakura, everything okay?".

It wasn't the volume of her voice, but the fact that she'd leaned in on the pinkette and practically spoken right into her ear without her noticing that scared her. "Temari! I need to be alive to do this you know!" she glared at her friend. "What do you mean?" Temari looked like a question mark. "Nevermind."

"Sakura, here's your microphone" Sahuri said and pulled off the microphone she had in her ear and gave it to Sakura. "Thank you, Sahuri." She put it in her ear and immediately she could hear everything that went on in the arena. Several people were talking to each other, giving orders or receiving them. Sakura decided it was time to interrupt them "Alright, everyone. Group one is ready to start. Is everyone in place?" Everybody fell silent for two seconds before a voice was heard. "Yes, Sakura-sama. Everyone is ready to start."

Arata had a good grip on his medic pack. Ayano and Ayame squeezed each others hands as a sign of "good luck". They knew their 5 minutes had started the seconds Sakura was gone but they had no idea how much time they had left. Ayano turned around towards Arata "Good luck." she said.

As the seconds went by, Arata started to question how they were to enter the arena. His thoughts were interrupted by Ayame who suddenly grabbed her sister's arm. "What are you doing Ayano?"

"Sakura-sama didn't say how we were to enter." Ayano defended herself. She'd tried to touch the barrier.

Back in the tent Sakura could have slapped herself mentally back to Suna as she realized something she'd forgot to tell her students. "Sahuri, this microphone reaches the outside of the arena, right?" she pointed to the microphone in front of Sahuri. "Yes. You press this switch here and it changes between the speakers inside and outside the arena." Sahuri looked puzzled "Did you forget something?"

Without answering, Sakura grabbed the mic "Is it switched to outside?" Sahuri barely had time to nod before Sakura spoke into the mic "Students, to enter the arena just step through the barrier.". She put the mic back in front of Sahuri and couldn't hold back the blush that appeared in her cheeks. "You forgot to tell them how to enter?" Temari scolded from the desk behind the pinkette. "Sorry.." Sakura felt herself grow smaller.

Arata sighed. "Let's go." he said as he pushed through the twins. He wanted to get this over with. It didn't take long for the twins to follow him. The sight that met them made all three gasp for air, literally. Arata started to couch. He covered his mouth as he used his other hand to drag with him Ayano who he knew held her sister's arm. He dragged them all out of the geyser looking area they had entered into. He learned fast that he had to be careful. He almost fell over because of some rocks that seemed to grow out the ground itself. "What is this place?" he heard Ayame ask. Ayano looked over the scene in front of them. Everywhere they looked they saw boulders and rocks as big as houses hovering over them and making it impossible to see the end of the arena, if there were sightseeing was interrupted by a sudden explosion in the far distance. They could hear rocks falling and even a tree or something with leaves falling down. Then they heard screams and they knew what to do.

"Mars, your position." Sakura spoke into the mic. It had been Temari's idea to name the actors responsible for each part of the exam after planets. The male named "Mars" replied "Behind the rock south of the cave." Temari snickered at the actors radio language. Sakura shushed her. She'd tried several times to make the blonde realize that they were actors not shinobi.

"Good. The group is headed in your direction. Stand ready to attack."

As soon as the order was given, Sakura watched the TV-screen as Arata, Ayano and Ayame appeared by the cave she herself had punched into the ground. The plot was a closed in cave done by a group of evil shinobi – Mars and his group – fought by the students – the fight would not be too difficult. Sakura meant for the students concentration to be on rescuing the ones inside the cave, not showing off their fighting skills.

The fight was now on. Mars' team was made up of him and two other males. The plan was for them to become supposedly incapacitated as soon as possible since the actors were not nearly able to defend themselves in a real fight. Arata and Ayano had taken it upon them to fight meanwhile Ayano used her wind techniques to move boulders away from the cave entrance. "Points for teamwork, at least." Temari mumbled.

Mars' team fell onto the ground and didn't rise up which meant that Arata and Ayano could join Ayame in moving the boulders. She was nearly done. Sakura couldn't help but smile to herself as she remembered when she had ranted on and on in front of the class about teamwork.

"The last one!" Ayano let the last boulder fall on top of the others. The cave entrance was large and dark. "Well, this was easy." Ayame mumbled to herself.

Suddenly a loud, piercing shriek of pain made it's way through the cave. "W-what was that?"

Ayano shivered. "We need to go inside and find out!" Ayame said resolutely and was about to trot inside.

"Wait!" Arata shouted and grabbed Ayame's shoulder and pulled her back. "Ouch! Arata!"

"Cover up!"

He'd seen the smoke appear as soon as Ayame tried to enter. The sickly yellow-green color was unmistakeably due to poisonous gas.

"Arata discovered the chlorine." Sakura smiled to herself. "You taught them well." Sahuri complemented. "Now they just have to get the victims out of the cave, heal them and they've passed their exams." Temari mumbled.

"The healing is the difficult part." Sakura sighed.

"What do we do now? We don't have any gas masks?" They'd all covered the bottom half of their faces with their sleeves. "We need to cover ourselves with whatever we've got." Arata ripped of a large piece of his sleeve and folded it before he tied it around his face. "Will that work?" Ayame looked worried. "I'll try it." Arata walked back to the cave and entered the yelllow-green mist. "It's working! Come on!" Arata signaled for the others to follow him before he entered.

He could barely see a thing. Barely any sunlight managed to shine through the chlorine gas. "Anybody in here?"

A loud pain filled grunt was heard from the darkness. Arata could also swear he heard whispers with the word help in it.

**A/N: I know I'm bouncing between Sakura and the students in the arena but this was the only way I could do it without ripping my hair out in frustration because it just wouldn't look right w**

**Hope you like it though.**


	4. Chapter 3 - Fight!

******Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Naruto universe. I only own this story.**

X

**Chapter 3 - **

«You can get them out now.» Sahuri said to Temari and she was off in a second. Sakura let go of the breath she'd held in for the last minutes and bent her head as she thanked whatever gods there may be in heaven. "They did good."

Sakura rose from her seat. "Time to give grades." she said as she exited the tent. Sahuri would be the one to prepare the arena for the next group. Sakura wondered if her shishou went through the same when she'd watched her juunin exams. Sakura had felt a mixture of pride and worry as Arata and the girls entered the cave to get the victims. Since there were no cameras in the cave, the minutes that went by had been nerve wrecking. She practically bounced through the forest towards the arena because when she'd witnessed her students pass the exam with practically straight A's, she almost began to dance in joy.

As she closed in on the arena and it came into view, she saw Temari coming through the barrier with the three.

As she came closer she tried to hide her smile but it seemed impossible. "Temari, will you go back to the camp and get me Rumiko, Ayu and Iyuri?" She stopped right in front of her students and Temari was once again off in a few seconds.

She studied them for a seconds before she said "I'm proud of you.".

As the sentence was said, she swore she could see their shoulders relax in relief. "You did good. Your teamwork was excellent." Sakura went from smiling to a little more stern-faced as she spoke her critics "But you seemed to forget something important. Though unpleasant, a good medic should know and not hesitate to use the nature around as equipment. Your idea of using your cloth as a gas filter was good, but it still put you all in jeopardy. If you are wearing thing clothing it wouldn't have work. To strengthen the filter you could use mud, the dirtier mud the better."

Sakura sighed.

Arata cursed inside. Ayano and Ayame both looked gloomy. "You passed."

They looked at their teacher as if she was joking.

X

"These are the last ones." Temari sighed as she entered the tent again. It was now long into the evening and keeping watch over the exam had taken its toll on everyone.

No one had failed. There were some that would need to practice a little more on stuff like extracting poison and camouflage. Other than that they only lacked in experience.

The ones to enter the arena now, were a group of four. The group consisted of Beniko, a black eyed brunette at the age of 15. Kasumi a grey-eyed white haired 14-year-old. Keiko, a blonde with brown eyes at the age of 13. And last but not least, Isamu, a 13-year-old boy with black long hair and green eyes. It was a very unusual setup. Kasumi and Beniko were total opposites in looks, but in personality they were practically twins. Keiko had a very childish personality but her abilities in taijutsu had given her the nickname "_Yamazaru_" - The monkey.

Isamu was the quiet one, but also the one to think before he acted which made him the one to plan the tactics.

"Everybody ready?" Sahuri asks into the mic. As the arena being ready is confirmed Sahuri gives everybody word to start. Sakura watches the tv-screen in front of her as Kasumi and Beniko are the first to enter. Keiko and Isamu weren't far behind. As everybody else they got smoke blown into their faces as they entered. Sahuri had come up with the idea when they needed something to make the exam come at the students as a surprise. And it always did.

"What the hell?"

Kasumi coughed as she breathed in too much smoke as she spoke.

The twins fumbled around in the smoke, using their hands, trying to get out of the smoke filled area.

Isamu and Keiko followed suit until they all were finally out in the clear.

All the students went into the same arena and the reactions were somehow similar. They usually studied their surroundings for a while before doing anything, if they got the time for it.

This time was not one of those.

As soon as they managed to see clearly they had to dodge a bunch of kunais being thrown in their direction.

"Woah!"

Isamu found a safe spot behind a large rock before he managed to see what happened. What appeared to be enemy shinobi were standing on a large boulder not far away from them. They were clearly on stand by. "I don't understand. If this is an exam in healing why are we being attacked?"

"Beniko, do you really believe you could go through a whole life as a medic without defending yourself?" Keiko asked the older girl. Beniko didn't answer.

"Isamu what should we do?" Kasumi asked the boy. Isamu thought about it for a while before he spoke "I want to try something. We know that there is something or someone in here we're supposed to heal. We just don't know who." He turned and looked at the girls behind him "Beniko and Kasumi, do you see this boulder over there?" He pointed towards a rock similar to the one they were hiding behind. The girls nodded. "I want you two to attack the nin's over there. Get as close as possible. When you don't think you can get any closer hide behind that boulder."

The girls looked at each other. "Why?" Beniko asked. "I'll explain later." Isamu waved the question away.

X

"It seems as though Isamu is trying out one of his strategies again."

"It seems so." Sakura nodded. "They usually end up with him discovering a lot more than he needs to know." She smirked towards Sahuri. "What do you mean?" the girl looked confused. "Well unless the actors are really good and have a lot of fighting experience, I bet Isamu will see through the act and understand that the actors won't hurt them, no matter how badly they fight."

Sahuri nodded as she understood. "What are you going to do about it?" She asked the pinkette. "We'll see." Sakura watched as the twins tried out Isamu's plan.

X

"It's as I thought." Isamu mubled as the girls hid behind the designated boulder. "What is?" Keiko couldn't help but ask. Almost no one could keep up with Isamu's mind.

"You see those nin's?" Isamu pointed towards the enemy shinobi.

Keiko nodded before Isamu continued "They're protecting something... or rather hiding it from us. I'm not completely sure yet, but it could be hostages."

Keiko looked over towards the enemies and now she could clearly see that they were in the exact same spot as before. They hadn't moved and showed no intentions of doing so.

"I need to get to the twins. Follow me!"

That was the only warning Keiko got before she was pulled away form the hiding place and ran towards the twins. A few kunais were thrown towards them, but dodging them were practically childs play. "Isamu, what was the point with that? Can't we just take them down?" Beniko asked impatiently. "You will, eventually." Isamu asnwered. Beniko and Kasumi were the oldest and the best at fighting out of all of them. "You two will fight them." He pointed at Kasumi and Beniko. "What about me?" Keiko didn't like to be put aside.

"You'll have to help me get through the fight."

It didn't take long before the fight was on.

Beniko and Kasumi attacked first and kept the enemy busy. As they were busy, Keiko and Isamu sneaked past them. "What did you need me for? You could easily do this yourself." Just as Keiko was finished talking, Isamu provided an answer. He pulled her down as a kunai once again came flying towards them.

Just as Isamu had thought, another enemy shinobi stood guard further into the arena.

"Look!"

Isamu pointed towards something behind the enemy shinobi. Keiko didn't see it at first, but then she noticed. The bodies of five civilians were tied together around a tree and by the looks of it, they were hurt and unconscious.

"Can you take care of this guy?" Isamu had to get to the hostages. Since he was the worst fighter in the group he trusted the fighting with the girls.

As Keiko sent a few kunais of her own towards the enemy and use her agility to confuse him so that Isamu could sneak past him.

X

"Wow, Keiko is fast!"

Sakura smiled again, for the thousandth time that night "I know. It runs in her family. I actually believed her to be a relative of Rock Lee.".

"Is she?" Sahuri studied Keiko's moves on the screen. "A distant cousin if so is the case." Sakura had found out that Keiko had no known relations to the known spandex-dressed bounce ball. "Temari, you've told the actors about the addition to this one?" Since this was a larger group than the other ones, Sakura had decided to add a little surprise. "They have all been informed, and they're all ready." Temari pointed to the screen where Beniko and Kasumi were done fighting the first actors and were now mowing towards the next where Keiko were just about to land her last kick to the actors side, making him unconscious.

X

"Isamu!"

Keiko, Beniko and Kasumi ran up to where Isamu was sitting with the head of one of the hostages in his lap. His hands were glowing green as he held the hostages head which had a large, bloody wound. "I cut them loose from the tree. Some are more hurt than the others." As he spoke, the head wound healed, slowly but surely. Keiko, Beniko and Kasumi started healing too. Keiko and Beniko started healing one with injures on his left shoulder and left ankle. As Isamu was closing the headwound after the bleeding had been stopped, he came to think of something "Girls." as he thought about it more it became more obvious "There are five hostages but only 4 enemies.".

"So?" Kasumi thought Isamu was just blabbing. "Don't you remember? Sensei told us about this. There are usually twice as many enemies when hostages are involved. Some could have hidden themselves when the first ones were defeated." As this seemed to sink into the girls' minds, the hostage who Isamu had just healed began to stir.

He didn't say anything, he just looked around.

Isamu didn't have time to talk to him. He went straight to the one Kasumi had started to heal to help her. The newly awoken hostage sat up straight and leaned onto the tree behind him as he watched the healers.

"Do you have much left, Isamu?" Kasumi had just closed the wound she'd been healing on the right arm of a woman. "Not much."

As Kasumi made sure the wound was closed, she looked towards the already healed hostage once. Then she lifted her head once more as she'd noticed something by the forest, not too far away. "Isamu! I think you're theory was correct!"

As she said that, flying shuriken hit the tree-trunk behind them. Kasumi and Beniko answered the attack with shuriken of their own.

"We'll deal with them!" The twins shouted as they darted into another fight.

X

**A/N: Hope you like this chapter. I'm so sorry I'm so incredibly late with this one, but it was very hard for me to write.**


	5. Chapter 4 - Unexpected turn of events

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Naruto universe. I only own this story.**

X

**Chapter 4 –**

As Kasumi and Beniko rushed into fighting, Keiko wondered if she should join them. But then she looked over at Isamu, who was busy, healing, and changed her mind. He was beginning to show how much a toll all this healing had put on him.  
Beniko kicked the man to the ground, and as he didn't rise again, she went over to help Kasumi who was busy trying to get out of a strangling grip. As Kasumi managed to get loose, Beniko punched his head and he fell to the ground.  
There were still two more to go. They'd stayed out of it to watch instead of going in head on. Still, it didn't take long before they too were lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious.

Isamu looked up from his healing just in time to shout out "Look out!" before one of the shinobi on the ground suddenly jumped up and kicked Kasumi by her feet so she fell and hit her head. Beniko turned around in time to watch as the rest of the shinobi rose as well. "They tricked them! Keiko, you have got to help them!" Keiko rose up from the ground and did as told.  
Now that three out of four was fighting and one was healing, Isamu started to witness a problem. His chakra wouldn't last long if this continued.

X

"Sahuri! Tell the actors to be a little gentle. Isamu won't last much longer."

Sakura noticed how Isamu had started to struggle with his healing. The glow around his fingers had started to weaken. "We can't go too easy on them." Temari could see the worry in Sakura's eyes. "I know that."

X

As Keiko joined the fight, they were three versus four. Kasumi and Beniko were both fighting two men each and Keiko joined Kasumi first. Three kicks to the first man's legs and a kick peck on his neck special spot and he was out. When the second one was due, it took only a few punches to the stomach before he fell to the ground.  
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to help Isamu?"  
"He was the one who told me to help you guys." Keiko answered Kasumi's question as they joined Beniko in her fight.

Isamu was starting to really feel it now. It had started as a burning sensation on his palms as if someone had brushed sandpaper against his skin, but he couldn't stop.

X

Sakura was becoming restless as she realized how far Isamu was pushing himself. The girls should've switched places with Isamu. Isamu never trusted himself as a fighter that was his big weakness. But Sakura had seen him fight, he wasn't bad. He wasn't great, but it seemed as if his lack of confidence in him got to him and made him weaker. "This isn't good. Did I make this exam too hard?" She wondered aloud.  
"We were all in on this. But we can't ruin this by telling the actors to stop." Sahuri told the pinkette. Temari nodded in silence.  
As the fight went on towards an end, Sakura couldn't take her eyes off Isamu. She knew this would end in her failing at least one of them, and she knew who it would be.  
The glow in Isamu's fingers were about to fade away. That's when the figth with the girls finally ended and the last enemy fell onto the ground. The girls ran across the tv-screen towards Isamu.

But they were too late.  
"No! Damn it!" Sakura shouted as she exited the tent in a rush and hurried towards the arena.  
As she got closer, she couldn't stop blaming herself for what happened. She should have stopped it when Isamu's glow was barely showing.

She knew Temari was following her through the trees and Sahuri was running on the ground. As she closed in on the arena she remembered where the nearest seal was. She closed it very fast and muttered "come on" as she waited for the barrier to disappear. She did not wait for the dust to settle and hurried towards the tree where her students were.  
She found the girls holding Isamu. He'd fallen over one of the actors and Sakura noticed the panic that showed in the actors face as he at the same time tried to keep his character. "Kasumi! Beniko! Keiko!" she came to a halt right before them. She didn't take time to catch her breath before she tried to speak which made it even more difficult to speak so she ended up gasping for air instead which gave the girls time to speak in panic.  
"Sakura-sama! We-"

"He told us to-"

"We didn't make it in time before –"

They all tried to explain at the same time which didn't work at all. As Sakura managed to breathe normally again she raised her hand "Doesn't matter now! Pull him up from the actor and put him here." Sakura pointed to the ground in front of her before she sat down and rubbed her hands together.

As Isamu was put on the ground face up, Temari arrived with Sahuri close behind. Temari didn't ask anything, she went right to work with waking the actors up. Sahuri had given them a pill to swallow which made them pass out into a deep sleep for a while. It was to make it more reality-like. Sahuri went to the ones by the tree. The wounds the students were to heal were done by a specialist. They were real wounds, but given to the actors after they'd swallowed a pill much like the fighters got only this pill would make the pass out and not feel anything. Sahuri pulled the girls with her and told them to heal them. If the actors were to wake, the bleeding would start for real and could cause the actors to bleed to death. Sakura put her hands on Isamu's head and started to look for his chakra channels. This did not require regular healing as he wasn't wounded; he was just empty for chakra. She found his chakra centre placed in his head and poured her own chakra into it. As all other living beings he had several chakra centers, but she started with his head because it was the most important one beside the one in his heart.  
As she felt the centre throb and beginning to work again she switched fast to his heart. These two centers were the ones most important but also the most difficult to open again. Her palms began to sweat from the heat of her chakra.  
As she felt the familiar throbbing, she took a second to make sure that his color was returning. When she'd arrived, he'd looked almost white as a sheet. She then placed her hands on both his arms, her fingers spread as wide she could get them on his chakra channels and she started to pour. After what seemed like an eternity in which where she had switched from his arms to his legs, she felt him waking up.  
"Isamu, can you hear me?"  
His eyelids fluttered for a bit before he nodded weakly and tried to sit up. "Careful..." Sakura helped him up. "Sakura-sama, what…happened?"  
"To be honest, I do not know. The girls were fighting, you were healing and you went beyond your own limit. What I do not understand is how you managed to push yourself so far that your chakra centers closed…"  
The little boy in front of her was actually blushing! "Sorry…"  
"Don't apologize." She helped the boy up "Now let's get everyone out of here."

X

**A/N Okay, since I know I'm super super late with this chapter I guess I have some explaining to do. Since the 19****th**** of August, I've been living with my in laws and traveled to and from school which takes up much of my time and my in laws do not have internet connection, which really isn't that bad but then again, my publishing kind of suffers from it.**

**I hope knowing this helps a little on your patience **


	6. Chapter 5 - Home

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Naruto universe. I only own this story.**

X

**Chapter 5 -**

Sakura knew she what she had to do. She had known that delivering bad news was a part of being a teacher, nevertheless she hated doing it. Her mood remained sullen until the entire group was out of the arena. She came to a halt in the middle of the field between the arena and the woods. As she turned, she saw that her students knew her mood and acted accordingly which was staying silent and looking like she was about to punish them. As they stood in front of her, Sahuri and the last of the actors walked by and into the forest. They were to return to camp and have a small rest. Temari were to follow but she went to deactivate the chakra seals and carry them back to camp.  
"Now, let's get on with it, shall we?" Sakura sighed before she started. "You started your exam well enough and your teamwork was practically impeccable." They knew what was coming next would not be praise. "Your teamwork went on well, but only because you all seemed to agree on something about someone."  
Sakura put her eyes on Isamu "Why do you not recognize yourself as a fighter, Isamu?".

Isamu seemed surprised by the question. He opened his mouth to answer, but Sakura wouldn't let him yet. "And more importantly, why don't you?" She looked to the girls. They now all shared Isamu's surprised expression. "Isamu, I've seen you fight. You might not be the strongest or swiftest on the battlefield, but you're fast. Do not underestimate the importance of speed." Isamu looked shamefully to the ground. Sakura knew she'd been spot on. "Girls, remember this. Whenever a team member, no matter what rank, makes a decision that puts himself in any kind of danger, you make sure that is what is needed. Not wanted, needed." She then glared at them all in turn "A decision that is only wanted, but not needed, is a bad decision in most situations."  
She felt awful when she saw how her students went from shameful to terrified of what was coming next, which made it harder to continue. "That is why I decided not to pass you on this exam."  
Their reactions almost broke her heart. The twins' eyes were watery and Keiko had wrapped her arms around herself as if for protection. Isamu was practically in shock. "Sakura-sama… what should we do?" Keiko suddenly looked years younger than she was. "I will recommend you for the next class of medics. You will not have to take all the classes again, but it would not hurt to repeat some of it, and then you will try to pass again."  
This small glimmer of hope seemed to help the girls at least. "Isamu." She tried to get his attention. When he showed no signs of coming back to reality she tried again "Isamu!"  
Now he looked up at her. "It's not over. You can try again."

X

Their trip back to camp felt like it would last forever. Sakura walked in front with her students behind her.  
When they finally broke through the edge of the woods and into the camp, Sakura could focus on something else than how much she felt she'd let Isamu, the twins and Keiko down. There was nothing more she could do for them at the moment. All the other students were sitting around a fire. There were signs of food having been made quite a while ago. Sakura looked up at the sky. The sky was dark, which meant they'd used a whole day on the exams – just as Temari had predicted. "We'll be staying here tonight." She told them as she turned her gaze towards them "We will need to split into groups for preparations for the night."  
She split her whole class into three different groups. Group 1 was to stay at camp with Sahuri and make the tents everybody were going to sleep in. Group 2 had to go and gather firewood for the night with Temari – Sakura had picked a particularly wild part of the woods in Fire. Group 3 together with Sakura would be responsible for the food – both hunting and cooking.

X

"Good shot" Sakura leaped from the branch and landed almost soundless on her toe balls beside the newly shot hare. A thin senbon needle was sticking out of its head. She picked it up and held it together with the other hares they'd killed. "Now we need something else than meat." She looked back at the young ones "There should be some wild growing vegetables in the area. Look for them. Pick them only if you're sure it is that you think it is." She sounded like she spoke to five-year-olds but caution was necessary when it came to the wild.  
While her students spread around, she pulled out the senbon from the hares head before she used a hunting hook she'd borrowed from Temari to strap the hares to her short by piercing their ears.  
Sooner than expected a pile of well picked vegetables started to develop on the ground. When Sakura was satisfied, they all put them into sacks for safe travel before they were off back to camp.  
A table had been set up for them when they arrived and that's where all the unprepared food was laid. She took the responsibility of cleaning the hares herself and it was easy enough. She managed the job without making a mess and sooner than later a big pot filled with meaty broth was boiling over the fire.  
After everybody was well fed – at least by the looks of what little broth was left – it didn't take long before they retreated into the tents for the night. Sakura had been keeping an eye out for the twins, Keiko and Isamu. They'd looked a little down in the beginning but after a while they managed to laugh with the others.

Temari insisted on taking first watch by the fire. Since they'd only brought enough tents for the students, Temari, Sahuri and Sakura had to lay down by the fire. Sakura didn't mind though – lying in the woods, sleeping under the stars reminded her of home, which she would return too soon enough.

X

The sun shone bright as they reappeared with a loud poof in the middle of the streets, right in front of the big city gates. The same spot they'd teleported from the day before.  
It didn't take long before the big group of people started to disperse. Sakura followed Isamu with her eyes as he left. He seemed to be taking it well.

"Temari, can you promise me something?" She turned to her blonde friend. "Sure." Temari shrugged as she picked up the neatly packed bag filled with tents. "When I'm gone, could you help…" She only had to look towards where Isamu had left for Temari to understand. "I'll do what I can.." Sakura sighed heavily before she threw her sorrows off her back.

X

**A/N: I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter…**


End file.
